Changes in annual soil moisture (left) and maximum number of consecutive dry days (right) projected to occur by the late 21st century based on the average of many global climate models. Stippling denotes areas of greater model agreement. Together these projections indicate that much of the West, and particularly the Southwest, will likely become drier and more drought-prone as global climate change continues, a tendency that will be exacerbated by continued warming in the region. (Illustration courtesy Jonathan Overpeck, adapted from Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K. B. Averyt, T. M., and H. L. Miller (eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, 2007, Cambridge University Press.)[Enlarge]

Map showing the regional foci of the nine existing NOAA-funded Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) Programs. Each RISA program focuses on climate change adaptation, as well as helping decision-makers (“stakeholders”) in society deal more effectively with climate variability and change. (Illustration courtesy NOAA. See for more details: http://www.climate.noaa.gov/cpo_pa/risa/)

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